With Mother’s Day right around the corner, what better time than now to thank the women who taught us how to shave our legs, insisted we stand up straight and get our hair out of our faces, and never let us go out in the summer without sunscreen? All nagging aside, if your Mom (or Grandma, or mother figure) was anything like mine, she probably gave you some of your most trusted beauty tips. After all, who better than Mom to pass down her most tried and true beauty secrets?

My mom’s number 1 rule: LEAVE IT ALONE! That pimple on your forehead? The horrible bangs you gave yourself? Well, put down the scissors and step away from the acne medicine, because chances are you’re only going to make it worse!

Here are some more beauty secrets from Mom (and Grandma!) that readers now swear by:

“Grandma always told me never to leave home without lipstick in my purse. It’ll instantly make you look glamorous without any effort.” — Ashley G.

“My mom was all about knowing when to splurge on beauty supplies, and when to save. For instance, she believed that you should spend a little extra on a great face cream because taking care of your skin is so important. But for little things, like lightening my hair, she would suggest using lemons in the Summer instead of wasting money of hair treatments that would only damage hair in the long run.” – Lauren C

“My mom taught me that nail polish was an all-or-nothing affair: either all on or all off! And she swears that square nails look better than rounded ones.” -Devin S.

“From my mom I picked up the habit of moisturizing my face every morning. We both use Olay Complete with SPF 15! Also, she told me to never go to bed with makeup on.”
–Debbie C.

“My grandma always said that you should wash your face with warm water to open your pores, and then use cold water before putting makeup on to close them back up. So far, so good! Thanks grandma!” -Alia H.

“My mom always told me to let my hair ‘go wild,’ meaning not to add too much product or destroy it by over blow-drying and straightening – this might have something to do with the awesome afro she had in the ’70s! She also always said to never leave nail polish on for more than 7 days.” -Stephanie W.

“Mom always told my sisters and me that the best way to stay young and look beautiful was to stay healthy. This meant exercising, eating healthy, and wearing LOTS of sunscreen!” -Berit N.

“My mom and grandma both have really long, thick hair like me. They both said I should brush my hair 100x a day for healthy, non-greasy looking locks. Obviously, this advice is a little over zealous, but I do give my hair a really good brushing once a day to make sure it stays looking beautiful!” -Menaka I.